Bonhams Announces Beatles Auctions

A collection of some of the most important pieces of George Harrison and Beatles memorabilia ever to be offered at auction will be included in Bonhams forthcoming Entertainment Memorabilia sale on 12th December 2012. The collection, which has never been available to the general public, was gifted by George Harrison to his brother Harry and other members of the family.

The most instantly recognisable piece in the sale, representing a key stage in the musician’s career, is George’s iconic Cavern Club and Hamburg era leather jacket. George Harrison was an enormously influential trend-setter and the leather jacket can be clearly seen in many of the Beatles early promotional photographs, including the historic Astrid Kirchherr photo sessions. The jacket was acquired by George during the Beatles residency in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960 and was his favourite onstage garment throughout their 1960-1962 appearances. The jacket will be offered with an estimate of £90,000 – 120,000.

A pair of George’s custom made leather ‘Beatle’ boots, synonymous with the band’s style at the height of Beatlemania in 1964 will be offered with an estimate of £12,000 – 15,000. Harrison can be clearly seen wearing an identical pair of boots during the filming of ‘A Hard Days Night’. So influential were the Beatles at the time, their look was copied by teenagers around the world and formed an important part of fashion history.

Representative of George’s solo career is his bespoke orange western style shirt designed by Nudie’s of Hollywood, identical to that worn during the landmark ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ in 1971.The shirt is estimated at £6,000 – 8,000.

In addition to the Harrison Family collection, a key piece of early Beatles memorabilia will also be sold. A guitar used by Paul McCartney during the 1950s as a member of the pre-Beatles group The Quarry Men, accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from McCartney is valued at £20,000 – 30,000. Celebrating 50 years since the Beatles’ first record release, a large interesting archive of over one thousand photographs of the group throughout their career will be sold with copyright, estimated at £40,000 – 50,000.

Also included in the over 400 lot auction on the 12/12/12 at 12 noon are a number of pieces of stage costume and jewellery relating to Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker during their Cream and Blind Faith days, during the late 1960s, as well as numerous lots relating to Rock legends The Who, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Queen, T. Rex and U2.

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